Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

This week, Alpher discusses what the choice of Diaspora partners for the Israel Ministry of Diaspora Affairs' new program for outreach among Jewish university students tells us; how significant is it that Director General Dore Gold of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs has paid a brief secret visit to a Muslim country in Africa with which Israel has no diplomatic relations; and any redeeming qualities to Defense Minister Lieberman’s new “carrot and stick” policy toward the Palestinians.

 By William Booth,  August 28, 2016

For a quick reality check on the current stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there’s no better place to visit than this little village of miserable huts and sheep pens in the middle of nowhere.

The hamlet in the hills south of Hebron has become an improbable proxy in a cold war waged among Jewish settlers, the Israeli government, Western diplomats, peace activists and the 340 or so Arab herders who once inhabited caves on the site and now live in squalid tents.

Israel’s military authority in the West Bank wants to demolish the Palestinian community, contending that the ramshackle structures, made of old tires and weathered tarpaulins, were built without permits and must come down.

The Palestinian residents insist they are not squatters but heirs to the land they have farmed and grazed since the Ottoman era.

They say Israel wants to depopulate the area of Arabs and replace them with Jews.

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AFP (featured in Al-Arabiya): August 12
NGO says Israel seeking settlement move to Palestinian land, Hagit Ofran, Director of Peace Now's Settlement Watch, says "the civil administration has opened a process where it is announcing that it intends to make use of these properties which are near Amona."

Jerusalem Post - August 11
Israel starts to seize 'abandoned' Palestinian property for Amona relocation, Peace Now says, "This is the crossing of a red line and a reversal of previous policies, including Likud government policies, according to which private lands cannot be used for the purpose of settlement."

Jerusalem Post - August 1
Far-right claim that many Arabs willing to sell Jerusalem homes to Israelis refuted, Anat Ben Nun, Peace Now's Director of Development and External Relations, says "when homes get sold, it is often done through a 'straw man,' who works together with Israeli settler organizations. The few that sell do so for financial reasons, as they are offered very high sums of money for their properties and face harsh social consequences."

Americans for Peace Now / (August 25, 2016)
Briefing call with Daniel Seidemann and Hagit Ofran to discuss the latest settlements-related developments in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Read More >

Naomi Zeveloff / The Forward (August 23, 2016)
This article unpacks the issue of the Palestinian Authority's financial support for families of terrorists and U.S. and Israeli efforts to combat these payments, or at least minimize their complicity in them. Zeveloff discusses where these funds come from and where they go, including families of Palestinian prisoners and civilians killed by Israeli fire. Read More >

Isabel Kershner / The New York Times (August 30, 2016)
This article describes how the Israeli government retroactively legalizes unauthorized settlements in the West Bank and how this plays an important strategic role in settlement expansion. Read More >